Increasingly,
students at Lawson State are finding themselves getting trained and placed in
good jobs in such industries as health care and automobile manufacturing.

And Lawson
may finally be getting some overdue recognition -- national recognition.

Lawson
State has been named one of the top community colleges in the nation in the
2013 Washington Monthly College Rankings.

Lawson
State ranked no. 5 in the publication's Best Community Colleges category and was
the only community college in Alabama to rank in the top 50, according to a
news release from the school.

The
ranking "means that the work that our faculty and staff have done -- especially
the last 5 to 6 years -- is coming to fruition and being recognized," said
long-time school President Dr. Perry W. Ward this week.

The ranking
also helps focus attention on some of the other accolades the school has received
the last couple of years, as well as on the growth of such programs at the
school as the Alabama Center for Automotive Excellence (ACAE), the health-care training
programs and a culinary arts program.

In rating
the nation's community colleges, The Washington Monthly combined information
from two sources -- the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and U.S.
Department of Education measurements of student retention and completion.

The
Washington Monthly also looks at such factors as civic engagement, research and
social mobility.

Ward
said that the ranking seems especially satisfying because "it was not
solicited. We were not working toward that recognition."

And this
is not the only significant recognition that Lawson State has received in
recent years.

Lawson
was honored by the White House in In September 2011 for being a
"Champion of Change" in an effort to create an educated workforce.
The school was recognized for its training of low-income and minority students
in 21st-century jobs, including compressed natural gas and
maintenance and inspections of alternative-powered vehicles.

Lawson
was also named one of the nation's Military Friendly Schools for 2013 in an
annual guide published by militaryfriendlyschools.com.

Guiding philosophy

Ward
said that the faculty and staff at Lawson State are focused on helping their
students get to the next level in their lives.

"We
have long worked to raise the confidence level of our students, to build an
infrastructure that has students really learning, and learning to think
critically and being able to move on to a 4-year school or a career," Ward
said.

He said
the faculty members at Lawson "take the students where they are and move them
to the next level."

And the
president is clearly a believer in what a certain football coach in the state
might call the "process."

"If you
work on the infrastructure, developing outstanding procedures and processes
that withstand the test of time, good things will happen for you," Ward said.

Lawson State programs

Build those cars

Ward
said that through the ACAE, Lawson State trains students to work for Ford, GM
and Toyota, and that some students have jobs lined up with dealerships before
they graduate.

And the
school is ambitious about expanding the reach and influence of the ACAE,
according to Ward. "We're looking to expand our auto program into the Florida
Panhandle and Mississippi," he said. "Rather than just being the Alabama Center
for Automotive Excellence, we're looking to being a regional center."

Getting healthy

"We
will place strong emphasis on health care," according to Ward.

In the
school's large health-care program, students can study to become registered
nurses, licensed practical nurses, home health aides and emergency medical
technicians.

This fall,
according to Ward, the school is launching phlebotomy and pharmacy technician programs.

Lawson
also graduates about 15-20 dental assistants a year, according to Ward.

The art of food

The
culinary arts program at Lawson State is getting a major boost, the school announced
recently. Lawson is building a $2.5 million Culinary Arts Building, part of a
$3.6 million renovation of the A.G. Gaston Building.

Construction
began in August and is scheduled for completion by the fall of 2014, according
to Ward.

The
building will measure 10,000 square feet and will have three training kitchens. "This
will quadruple the space we now have for the program," Ward said.

The
facility will also include a baking and finishing studio, a formal dining room,
butler's pantry, walk-in refrigerator and freezer, computer lab/library and
administrative space.

Lawson
State currently averages about 40 students per semester in the culinary arts
program, and that number is expected to grow, according to Dr. Bruce Crawford,
vice president for instructional programs.

"Employment
in leisure, hospitality and food services is growing, and we expect the same to
be reflected in our program, especially since we are adding new
opportunities," Crawford told AL.com in June.

Ward said that the school will soon offer associate degrees in culinary arts and in hospitality
and tourism management. "Think about the growth in tourism and hospitality in
the Birmingham area," he said.

Freshman Academy

The
criteria used by the Washington Monthly to rate schools like Lawson include
such factors as student engagement and retention.

Ward
said that one way that Lawson State attempts to have a positive impact on
students in these areas is their Quality Enhancement Program, which is part of
the school's required freshman academy class.

The freshman
academy course at Lawson is designed to steer new students through such
first-year college difficulties as navigating campus, figuring out the computer
system and learning to work in groups.

The
point of the program, Ward says, is to make sure that students are "equipped,
engaged and empowered." He said that students get help with, among other
things, orienting themselves to campus, working with computers, learning to
write and learning how to think critically

"It
prepares them to be critical thinkers who can function at the next level,"
referring to either a 4-year school or the work world.

And he
said that the academy faculty themselves go through some rigorous preparation
to teach the class

And on
the campus as a whole -- not just among the students in the academy -- Ward said
that Lawson State stresses "faculty/student interaction and getting students to
communicate their needs and concerns and allowing faculty members to better
respond to those concerns."

Dual Enrollment Program

Ward
said that students from some high schools, including nearby Wenonah High School, can
take classes at Lawson while still in high school and stock away college
credits. They can then finish their degrees faster after going to college full-time.

"It
saves them time and money, and gets them out into the work force," Ward said. "The
faster you get them out there, the more productivity they can create, and the
less dependency they have on loans and financial aid."

Wenonah Building

Lawson State
recently purchased the former Wenonah Elementary School building located
between the school's east and west campuses.

The
property is already being put to use. About 30 law enforcement officers took
part in an active shooters training there in mid-August. The training was
conducted by the Alabama Department of Public Safety and the Alabama Department
of Homeland Security.

But
Ward said that there are plans being discussed to renovate the building for use
as a Student Success Center, a place where a comprehensive range of student
services would be made available.

Long time on the job

Ward -- who earned an undergraduate degree at Miles College and graduate degrees in education
at the University of Alabama -- became president of Lawson State in 1987, after
working for over a decade with the Birmingham Public Schools.

Things
have certainly changed on campus during his tenure. When Ward became president,
the school had about 1,000 students, he said.

This
fall, the school has roughly 3,600 to 3,800 students, according to a school
spokesperson.

Ward
said that enrollment reached as high as 5,000 at one point in his tenure.

"Enrollment
fluctuates," he said. "When the economy is bad, a lot of people go back for
retaining. If the economy is good, they tend to go to work."

Every
building on campus has been renovated since 1987, according to Ward. "And we
have built 4 or 5 fairly significant buildings," he said.

And the
merger in 2005 of Lawson State with Bessemer State Technical College -- now the
Bessemer campus of Lawson -- created a "very formidable institution," Ward said.
"Both campuses have grown because of that."

Needing more money

When
asked to name his biggest challenge, Ward immediately mentioned what he sees as the inadequate amount of
funding that the school receives. "That's
a major challenge," he said. "That's huge."

He said
Alabama state funding has fallen from about $19 million annually in 2007-2008
to about $13 million per year after proration.

"We've
done a lot of juggling, and we've done a lot of cutting," Ward said. "We could
add more programs if we had the resources."

He said
the situation is frustrating because he believes that Lawson "offers the best
dollar value bar none in the state," citing the much higher costs to students
of attending the 4-year schools in Alabama.

Lawson "larger than people know"

The
president makes a strong case for the impact, including the economic impact, of
Lawson State. "Community colleges are the economic engine of the state," he
said.

Ward said
that Lawson, with its roughly $50
million annual budget -- and taking into account a multiplier effect --
might have an economic impact on the city of roughly $250 million a year.

He said
that Lawson has great importance at least in part due to its location. "We're
one of the largest institutions in the western area of Birmingham," he said. "We
have a significant impact.

"'Lawson
is larger than most people know or expect," Ward said.

The "most rewarding day"

Ward said
that, every year, he looks forward to seeing the fruit of his faculty's labors.

"My
most rewarding day of the year, personally and professionally, is graduation
day," according to Ward, who said that
he enjoys seeing the smiling faces of the graduates who have just "turned their
tassles" and been handed their diplomas.

"You
remember how they were the first day --- shy, afraid to ask questions, not
knowing how to think critically," he said. "The beauty is you take an
individual and you've gotten them ready to go out and affect the world in a
positive way."

Is Ward
ready to step down after 26 years at the helm of Lawson State?

The answer
is no. "I'll be here as long as they'll have me," Ward said, laughing.

Lawson
State is located at 3060 Wilson Road. The Lawson State Bessemer campus is
located at 1100 Ninth Ave. SW.